New Neurons Take 6 Months or More to Mature in Non-Human Primate Brain

[TECH NEWS]

New neurons take more than six months to mature in adult monkeys and that time is likely even longer in humans, according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, the University of Illinois, and Pennsylvania State University. Their findings, reported this week in the online version of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, challenge the notion that the time it takes for neurogenesis is the reason anti-depressant medications are not fully effective until three to five weeks after treatment begins. The dentate gyrus of the brain’s hippocampus is known to be where new neurons still form in adult mammals, and this region is thought to play a significant role in learning and memory, cognitive change with aging, depression and schizophrenia, and other brain processes, said Judy Cameron, Ph.D., professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and senior scientist, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health and Science University.

6/6/2011, University of Pittsburgh/Eurekalert